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predictions

It’s not quite over yet, but 2016 has been busy. As I predicted last year, mobile has been a definite focus for almost every marketer and we’re slowly starting to see VR and wearable technology take off.

I’ve found it interesting to see how businesses have started to scope out new and creative ways to incorporate all of these technologies and opportunities into their marketing strategies.

A few weeks ago I attended my first Digital Cream London event, sitting in on a rountable about joining up data across online and offline channels.

The three sessions with over 30 digital marketing professionals unveiled some interesting insights that I think are worth sharing.

This roundtable was, in my opinion, one of the more relevant ones as the customer journey becomes increasingly complex.

Detailed findings are included in our free-to-access trends briefing, sponsored by BlueKai, but in this post I’m going to focus on predictions for the next six months that were provided by the delegates.

In 1966 Time Magazine imagined what the world might look like in the year 2000. Among other predictions it stated that: “Remote shopping, while entirely feasible, will flop because women like to get out of the house; like to handle merchandise”.

This is clearly a bad prediction. Not just because the chauvinism of the article has gone out of fashion but because remote shopping, facilitated by the internet, has surged: global online retail sales recently topped $500bn, thrice the GDP of Peru, and both men and women spend in droves.

It can take quite a bit of digging to find better forecasts. But when it comes to digital media, particularly social media, there are some eerily accurate predictions to be found lurking among the the wilder imaginings.

2013 is here and while the global economy has been a source for concern since the global Great Recession, many believe that tech and digital-heavy markets will continue to thrive in the coming year.

That’s good news whether you’re a digital marketer, developer, designer or entrepreneur, but the devil is always in the details and it’s usually easier to capitalize on an opportunity if you can spot it early.

Christmas is just around the corner, which inevitably means analysts and research groups have begun making predictions about how much online retail will be worth this festive season.

The general consensus is positive for online retail, with various research firms predicting a rise in spending in the US and UK markets. For advice on how to make the most of the busy period check out our 35 tips for increasing your Christmas conversions.

In a world where technology changes rapidly and businesses that don’t
keep up often perish, it’s no surprise that many companies keep one eye
on the present and one eye on the future as they develop their strategies.

On the surface, it seems sensible. After all, not paying attention to
the future seems like a dangerous if not potentially fatal mistake.

But is this really the case? Or can focusing too much attention to the future be equally dangerous?

Despite questions about the global economy and volatility in the
markets, 2011 proved that there’s no place quite like the technology
industry, where innovative new services and products continued to win
adoption by both consumers and businesses.

With 2012 just around the corner, it’s time to ask: what’s around the corner?